Part 1 of Final

Part 1 Final: Page 54

            You would think it was just a regular day in Los Angeles. It was a sunny morning on a Friday in West Hollywood. I had a meeting with my dad’s uncle who lives in Beverly Hills P.O. Box. I knew my dad’s uncle liked me, but I wondered why he invited me to his home on that Friday morning. It felt like it took me ages to get to his house. I don’t know if it was all the hills that made it feel like it took forever to get there or if it was all the thoughts that I had rushing through my mind.

            I was looking at all the tall palm trees and the green grass and I thought wow this really is Beverly Hills. It actually really is what its like in the movies. I arrived at his house around two and the sun was out and bright. I forgot to bring him something small like a drink or flower. Sometimes it would hurt me inside to see Ned, but I would still have a warm feeling inside because he looked just like my grandpa. I would have that streak of pain rush through my body because I wish my grandpa were still here today. I have pictures with my grandpa as a baby, but what’s the point I don’t remember hm. There I am standing in front of the fancy iron decorated door.

            We were sitting by the pool and I could hear the stream of water falling into the pool. He was asking me about school, but the funny thing was school just finished. It was mid-June and he was curious what I was going to do with my future being that I just finished my high school life. I told him I wanted to work in real estate and he gave me a smile. He was proud of me because, he was real a real estate major. He built his empire off of real estate. I felt like he was there to support me throughout my future, especially support me with the career I chose because I haven’t always had the best male figure around. Earlier in the year I told him how I thought of him as my own grandpa. I used to call him Uncle Ned, but lately I thought of him as my actual grandpa. He took a breath of fresh air and looked at me with his warm eyes. He told me that he wanted to leave all his riches for me. He had a building in West Los Angeles and his home in Beverly Hills P.O. Box. As he told me that my jaw dropped. It was the most shocking incident and I couldn’t even believe that instant. He had children and grandchildren, I don’t know why he chose to give it all to me.

            Ned left for a minute and my eyes escaped into the view overlooking Los Angeles. All sound was blocked out that moment I looked at the view. When he came back, he tapped my shoulder and asked if I was okay. I told him I was fine and we went back into his home filled with Persian carpets and antiques to have eggs and bagels with cream cheese for lunch. While having brunch, he told me that he always had a good feeling about me and how I wasn’t anything like my family. He also mentioned how everything my family did to me was undeserved. I never knew he would understand any of my pain since I’ve always thought has lived such a happy life. I never took the time to figure out the pain he was going through especially when he grew up. I have always thought he was born into happiness and success.

Found Poem- Shaking U.S. Support

Shaking U.S. Support

Benjamin Netanyahu

Pointedly criticized

Blunt comments by Obama

Netanyahu landing strong

An unexpectedly strong victory

Never agreeing to a sovereign Palestinian state

Vision of peace, two free countries

Living side by side

Separately

Independent states for Israelis and Palestinians

The U.S. reevaluating their approach

A significant shift.

 

Found Poem for Night by Elie Wiesel

 

Night by Elie Wiesel

The Look in Her Eyes

From this moment

Separation

Completely broke her

They look in her eyes

As they stared into mine

And I had but one desire

Seeing her alive again

She continued to scream

Breathless…

Mercy

Terrible awaken

Under the authority of the German army

She’s mad, poor soul

Our flesh… creeping

Auschwitz.

Darkness of the night

Shame in our souls

In front of us flames.

Final: “Virtual Selves” Essay

            The students or even the younger generation of today has grown up online. The online life has been said to be a positive affect by some people and some people say it has a negative affect. I think that technology is useful it’s just that this younger generation has taken it for granted. The Internet alters the nature of many things. You could be sitting there alone by a computer but you won’t feel alone.

           

            You could have multiple identities on the Internet. In text 5, “Maybe I just exude it. I don’t know. But I feel like this short person with this squeaky little Filipino voice and nobody wants to pay attention.”(135) When I play this big guy everyone listens to me,” she says. (136) The woman felt like no one paid any

attention to her in real life. She created an alter ego in the virtual world. The avatar she created was a polar opposite of her. The woman felt lonely and just wanted someone to listen to her for once. She felt the need for attention or even some acceptance. By creating this avatar it made her feel better. Many people vanish into these avatars and lose acceptance for themselves. It is a simple repetition where people make a polar opposite avatar online. Another simple repetition is where people make a thinner, prettier version of themselves.

            I am able to balance my virtual life and my real life. In text 5 it says, “ A sociologist at MIT, Sherry Turkle, described these environments as laboratories for the construction of identity”, says Spaight. (136) Many people are sinked into the virtual life. I know who I am. I don’t need to a virtual personality online to help me find out who I am. Some people could need the the virtual life to help them find out who they really are and some people it really drives them even further from finding out who they truly are. I personally don’t think I need any of this online life. We shouldn’t confuse our online personas and online activities with what we do in the real world. Social sites today help us connect with things all over the world. You see things that you wouldn’t have even imagined of. Social sites only make us judge each other even more just like the media as a whole.

            In text 6, “That the internet links millions of people in new spaces that are changing the way we think and the way we form our communities. (147) “We are using the life behind a computer screen to become comfortable with new ways of thinking about evolution, relationships, sexuality, politics, and identity.” (147) The Internet connects millions of people. You can meet people from all over the glove online at any time of day. It isn’t always safe though. People need to keep caution when online. I think that the ability of meeting people online stops people from going outside and meeting others. Many people go online to find a companion. Going online to meet people stops us from forming a stable and connected community. You should be aware of everything going on in your community. How do you think people did everything 100 years ago? They went out in the real world and worked for everything. There wasn’t any online life to do the things they wanted for them. Since many people go online so much they’re losing their ability for a real life interaction. People are becoming too comfortable in the virtual world.

            I personally wouldn’t a job that has me dealing with a computer all day. I want something where I can interact with others and be more open to new things. The virtual world allows us to be something we’re not and you lose your true identity. People who feel lonely go online to find people to talk to. It stops us from gaining any social skills in the real world. The Internet is useful for educational information but the social sites and avatars are changing the way we think and soon enough your true identity will be lost.

Works Cited

Text 5:

Levine, Ketzel. “Alter Egos. In a Virtual World.” NPR 14 June 2007.

Text 6:

Turkle, Sherry. “Who Am We?” Wired January 1996.

A Fun Winter Vacation

With the cold weather and lack of sunny days in Los Angeles, a person can become depressed. We didn't have much of a winter this year however we made the best of it. We did road trip it to Big Bear where there was snow[.1] . The cold and damp weather seems to make me feel sleepy and tired though. At the same time, winter in LA can be fun, since people can actually go out. While more towards the Midwest and east coast most people are doing something indoors since it’s so cold out. It’s even sunny during our winter days here in Los Angeles. It can’t get any better than 70 degrees on a daily basis.[.2] 

Even with all this warm weather, I did miss the snow.  The family took my brother and I to Big Bear. It was fun to experience the outdoors. The air was so fresh and the sky was so blue. I made sweet hot chocolate for my family and friends. During the day we were in Big Bear and at night we stayed at my family friends house, which was in Apple Valley, twenty minutes from Big Bear. At night, I enjoyed seeing the shining beautiful stars. It was only a two and a half hour drive away from Los Angeles and it was just so different. At night in Apple Valley you can actually see the stars. There aren’t all those lights or pollution blocking the sky like there is in Los Angeles.

After the whole Big Bear trip was over I was back at home. I was only back in Los Angeles for three days before I figured out I was going to Las Vegas.  After five long hours in the car, we finally arrived at the Luxor. Interesting place I might add. My brother is really tall so it was funny to see him run into the slanted windows. We weaved in and out of the hotels crossing Las Vegas Blvd. at each passing. My favorite hotel was Ceaser’s Palace.  No wonder it’s like $500 a night to stay there. We ended the trip with blueberry pancakes and hot chocolate. Driving home wasn’t so bad since I got to sit in the front seat.

I spent the third week hanging out with friends  and going to the gym. I also got all four of my wisdom teeth taken out which wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. It felt good to go the gym after being on vacation for so long and just eating whatever I pleased. All the Vegas buffets were just so tempting. There was a ton of variety of all types of food from Chinese food to Italian. I also loved the variety of the delicious and colorful desserts the buffets had to offer. I didn’t have much pain after the surgery actually. People kept scaring me that getting your wisdom teeth taken out is such an awful experience. It was just an uncomfortable feeling in my mouth because of all the blood.

Overall, I did enjoy my winter break.  I was up and doing something most of the time. I didn’t put my break to waste and I got many things done. The only negative part to my break was the wisdom tooth surgery but otherwise it was a pretty enjoyable three weeks. I do plan to learn how to ski and snowboard one day. Maybe one day I will live in a cold place where it snows throughout the year so it would be nice to know how to ski and snowboard. It was a great time and I look forward to the new year. 

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